Broken Cinema

and I already though Roger Ballen was strange

2012-02-18T14:03:00.001-08:00

Early photos by a young Stanley Kubrick

2012-02-13T13:45:00.001-08:00

MORE SHOTS

2012-02-09T23:10:00.001-08:00

Tatonka

2012-02-09T22:37:00.001-08:00

But...But....

2012-02-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

I like frame clusters...........

http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com/

Progress

2011-11-18T20:03:00.001-08:00

I have been back just about 3.5 months now. Progress has been slow but sure as I am through about half of the film I have to process. Free time and the actual energy to get to developing, scanning and printing can be elusive. Art is hard when you have a real life too! If only I had a years worth of pay saved up so I could just go out to the studio every day and work.

A few images that I really like so far.

I'm going to wait till I have everything finished to post them to the project website. This will be a nice way to preview the work.

Shooting Film

2011-08-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Recently Pete Gomena, President of the Portland Photographers Forum, penned a really nice essay for their newsletter about shooting analog vs. digital. It is pretty much in line with what I tell people when they ask why I still shoot film, but perhaps a bit more eloquent. Perhaps I will cary copies of this around to hand to the folks that ask that question.

That Vague Feeling That Something's Missing
by Pete Gomena

Oscar Wilde once said of smoking, "It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?"
I often refer to my little digital camera the "crack cocaine" of photography. It's fast, addictive, easy to use, and ultimately unsatisfying.
Let's be clear: I've been suspicious of digital photography since it swept into commercial studios in the 1990s. My first reaction was to buy an 8x10 camera and start making pinhole pictures. I wanted something primitive, tactile, archaic, esoteric and real. In my workaday world, I learned to use the new technology. Privately, I was threatened by the changes.
I had spent 20 years steeping in the lore of legendary photographers, people with piercing vision, masters of craft who strove to push the limits of their art form. Here, suddenly, was something that threatened to sweep away everything on which I based my creative life. A big portion of my skills suddenly was obsolete.
Now, 15 years later, I own a computer, digital printer, scanner, and, yes, a digital camera. It's all good, but I can't rid myself of the nagging feeling that something is missing. There just used to be more!
My feelings were confirmed in July, when a group of PPF members saw the Ray Metzker "Automagic" show at the Portland Art Museum. Our walking tour of the exhibit was narrated by Julia Dolan, the museum's photography curator, whose talk was wonderfully illuminating of Metzker's work, influences, and craft.
Most of Metzker's images were small, but their impact was enormous. Here were images graphically strong enough to grab your attention from across the gallery. The prints (all silver-gelatin) were perfect little gems that spoke of the anonymity, alienation, isolation and mechanization of city life. Each was laden with dark emotion and a sense of wonder and discovery at the same time.
What I came away with, besides a very real urge to print in a darkroom again, was confirmation of the fact that craft still matters.
We're in a different photographic world today, and the tools for making great images are there if we learn to use them, analog or digital. Which tools we choose to use and the ideas and emotions we want to express are up to each individual, certainly, and you can take your pick of media.
Which brings us back to electronic addiction and the morning-after feeling it gives me.
My little digital camera is a great thing. It's versatile, and it produces good images as long as I keep the prints small. I find it a valuable tool for giving me instant feedback and keeping my photographic "eye" in shape. It's quick, spontaneous, and very portable. It's even kind of fun to use!
What it lacks is the tactile sense that I'm making something. I become a camera operator, and I get the feeling the camera really has done the work. I can only work with what it produces, and work remotely, with keyboard, mouse and computer. I like what comes out of the printer, but it is a thing somehow reduced, a facsimile, vision without craft, unsatisfying.
With film in my camera, I feel like I'm making important choices about how I want an image to look. Latent images on exposed film waiting to be developed hold an element of surprise and uncertainty, potential and mystery, even if they eventually will be scanned and digitally printed. (Right now this is my best option.) I touch the film as I load the developing reels, I choose developer, time, and temperature, I think about what is on the film as it's fixed, washed and hung to dry. I'm more connected to the process.
I use film any time I want to make an image I feel is important to me. It preserves the option of making "real" prints for that uncertain future time when I might have a darkroom again. It gives me a permanent, physical record of what I saw, real raw material as a result of my experience.
This doesn't mean I won't continue to use digital processes. I feel there is no choice. Digital processes are useful tools, they allow me to quickly and easily manipulate images in ways I couldn't possibly do in the darkroom, and they have become the common denominator. (I can't argue about the weight and portability of digital camera gear, either, and I'm not getting any younger.)
That doesn't mean I have to like it. I now think twice about using my digital camera as often because I know when I'm finished, I'll wish I had that shot on film.

Also a nice video I recently came across.

Day 17

2011-07-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

The journey is complete and I am happy to be home with my family and friends. This photobooth strip was the only company I had in the car, except for the five days that Roseann and Brandon were with me. From Ft. Benton, MT to Portland was 14 hours of mostly straight driving. I took a breather in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to walk around and get some coffee but I pretty much drove and drove and drove! My body is still recovering, I think I need to hit the chiropractor.

There were a couple of more spots that I stopped to shoot. One in the morning just outside of Ft. Benton and then a few in Oregon along the Columbia as I was driving back in.

Missouri River east of Ft. Benton

Sun setting on the Columbia, east of The Dalles

Me and my trusty steed.........a total warrior of a ride!

Trip details:
110 Rolls of film shot
close to 7,000 miles
12 states
17 days on the trail, 22 total on the road

My exposed film......time to get back to work!

Days 15 & 16

2011-07-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

JULY 25th

Deadwood

Today I drank whiskey with Calamity Jane. I visited the graves of Wild Bill, Calamity Jane and Sherrif Seth Bullock in the hills above Deadwood this morning.

Before

After

Jane deserves better than Early Times, and I remembered I have just a swig or two left of my Bulleit Bourbon in the car. So I went and grabbed it, took a swig, poured some on her grave and left it. Don't worry I just moved the ET bottle to the side of the headstone, so no disrespect.

The day was basically a long drive bookended by an old time boomtown and a modern day boomtown called Williston in North Dakota. It is pretty much a contemporary frontier town. Within 45 miles in every direction of Williston is a stream of oil trucks and giant diesel pickups crowding the road. It was very hectic and unnerving, I could not even buy bags of ice this morning on my way back through town....tried three different places before giving up.

There are Halliburton trucks everywhere and word is that they bought all the hotels in town (with cash) to house their people. Luckily I was headed for the Lewis & Clark State Park about 25 miles east of town. I was happy to find some great camping along the Missouri River.

And they had the best fire pits EVAR!

It will be intersting to se what Williston looks like in ten years.

JULY 26th

West of Williston is the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Missouri where the two explorers met back up after splitting on the return trip near modern day Missoula to explore the two different rivers.

While there I shot my 100th roll of film..YAY!

Some more images while driving back through Williston in the Morning.

That is either "The Others" or some oil related fire.

I really like the random disco chairs

Decision Point at the confluence of the Marias and Missouri Rivers.

I reached Fort Benton, MT today and unless there are some spots to photograph in the 30 miles between here and Great Falls, MT this will be my last day of shooting on the trail. Hard to believe it is complete. It has been an amazing journey, thanks for following! Of course I will still be posting my thoughts post trip and progress on the project.

Fort Benton, my last shot

Dinner

Sleep

Reflect

Day 14 - South Dakota Tourist Attractions

2011-07-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Today I was a tourist, it was fun. Corn Palace + Wall Drug + Mt Rushmore + Deadwood (and Whiskey) = A pretty good day. I do think I want to sue Wall Drug for 375 miles of visual harassment though. If you have ever driven HWY 90 in either direction towards the place then you know what I am talking about.

Have you ever seen the HBO series Deadwood? If you haven't put it in your queue right away. A best of Calamity Jane HERE for your enjoyment.

A good thing to keep in mind through all of this

Pappy gave me my fortune

Why do the hydrants have antennas?

A reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill.

The "Death Chair"!

My abode for the night

Day 13

2011-07-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Leaving the badly flooded area of the Missouri and I will be happy to not see these signs any more, not to mention countless road detours. Made the best of it though and I am pretty sure I got what I needed. Close to 100 rolls now.

It has been amazing having all this time to work on this project. Thanks again to all of my Kickstarter supporters, the Regional Arts & Culture Council and my coworkers for holding down the fort while I am gone! I don't think I have ever shot so extensively for such an extended period of time. It will be sad when it ends, but then the next phase will begin.....processing, selecting, scanning and printing. Can't say I am excited to process all of this film but I will get the ol JOBO from college up and running to help speed it up.

Today ends the 1st portion of my return loop of uncovered ground. I am in Sioux Falls, SD for the night and since this middle portion of the trail is the same as how I came down on it, I won't pick it back up until I get to Northern Montana in a couple of days. Tomorrow I am going to hit 90 west and go check out Mount Rushmore and Deadwood! That was the surprise for Roseann but I guess I will just have to send her a postcard. I've never been to either so I am pretty excited. I have already seen close to ten signs for Wall Drug so I will probably hit that up tomorrow even though I have been there before.

My morning in Kansas

Independence Creek, Atchison, Kansas

Fort Calhoun, Nebraska

Elk Point, SD

Spare tires!

Day 12

2011-07-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

So a decision was made today which has changed things drastically. On our way into Kansas City we decided to buy a plane ticket home for Roseann and Brandon. The heat and just too much time in the car for the little man was proving to be too much for us all. Off they go and now I am solo again to finish out the trip.

After seeing them off and coming to grips with them heading home early I hit the back roads once again. Nothing like a beautiful drive to get back into the groove. Missouri has some really amazing back roads! Getting closer to where I left off in Omaha, I am starting to encounter closed roads and detours keeping me from where I am trying to go though, have to make the best of it. I did get some great shots today.

Morning shot at Arrow Rock Bluff.

This must be a straight edge clubhouse or something.

Downtown Kansas City from Kaw Point where the expedition camped for a few days.

Three shots from an overlook of the Missouri River

Dinner......Double with cheese, small fries and a chocolate shake. Another bebefit of the back roads.

If you have not read Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon, you should buy it NOW!

Day 11 - Still HOT!

2011-07-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

The heat continues..........continues to remind me why I live in the Pacific NW! It's the humidity really, as it does get pretty hot in Portland but it is a dry heat. The humidity makes everything so much more miserable. Hopefully after tomorrow we will get far enough north and west to escape this pocket of heat.

We stopped a bit early today but we had a really nice drive on State Route 94 from St. Charles to Jefferson City. It is one of those roads that makes you realize how much you miss when driving on the highways, but yes instead of making it to Kansas City in three to four hours it took all day to day get to Boonville, MO 90 miles short of Kansas City. The drive was really amazing and quite a roller coaster and it also took us through Daniel Boone country.

Daniel Boone's Homestead

The Judgement Tree

Portland, MO

Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO.

A big thank you to Bill Watt for Fedexing his camera to me to use. My camera for some reason started randomly locking up on me requiring me to waste film to get it out and reset it. This is essentially the newest version of the Fuji 6x7 camera I have although it has a nice retro look to it. It's like going from driving a Cadillac to a sports car, very nice....thanks Bill!

To date.....76 rolls of film shot.

Now I have my own personal photographer!

Back on the Trail - Day 10

2011-07-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

My sister and Addison, who is 16 hours older than Brandon!

After a very nice visit with Denise (Roseann's sister) and Carlos in Des Moines and my family in Indianapolis, I am back on the road with the fam in tow (Roseann and Brandon). The weather since we arrived in Des Moines and on into Indiana has been sweltering. 90 degree plus temps with high humidity makes for a lot of sitting around inside, which can be nice. But it has continued today and will continue tomorrow and it is not too much fun being on the road with a 1 year old and a wife with a serious aversion to heat. Luckily our first stop today had a nice visitors center with AC so they could hang out while I was outside suffering.

We drove from Indianapolis to St. Louis and our first destination was Camp River Dubois on the Illinois side of the Missouri. This is technically the final and furthest east location of my journey, had I continued on my westward route but we have looped around and will hit the remaining spots from the east, up just north of Kansas City. The it is backtracking over most everything I have already covered until we get to Montana, then we hit the northern outbound route of the Corps through Montana. I am surprising Roseann with a super secret detour on the way back, some place I have not been either and am super excited about! It will not be revealed until after we do it so Stay tuned.

I accidentally discovered the "pinhole" feature on my digi today.....cool. Fort Camp River Dubois replica.

A new type of sign....how exciting! St. Charles, MO

Day 9 - Holy Water!

2011-07-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Wow! It just keeps getting worse. The image (and close up) is from Council Bluffs, Iowa looking across the river at Omaha, Nebraska. The body of water closest to me is not the river, it is a field and then the thin sliver just above that is, was Highway 29. The actual Missouri River is the furthest portion of water just past the large cluster of trees in the center of the image. I had to take a pretty lengthy detour to get here since a couple portions of the highway are completely shut down in both directions. Once I got to Sioux City Iowa about 90 minutes north of here, things were a lot worse than they were in South Dakota. I was not able to reach a few locations and one I did get to was closed down, but I was still able to get some shots.

This is the Lewis and Clark State Park south of Sioux City which has a replica of the Keelboat the expedition used. The visitors center was closed and sandbagged.

This morning i visited the Spirit Mound just north of Vermillion, SD. The overcast skies were very welcome (my favorite type of shooting conditions) and it was a very nice location.

Shedded snake skin

I then visited Sergeant Floyd's Gravesite in Sioux City.

Sergeant Floyd was the only member of the Expedition to die during the entire journey. Although they did not have this diagnosis in that day, modern day examining of his symptoms suggests he died from a burst appendix.

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Tomorrow I will be heading towrds Kansa City and then cutting back up to Des Moines, Iowa for a much needed break from driving. I will be reunited with my family!! I can't wait to see Roseann and Brandon. We will be staying at her sister and husband Carlos' house for a few days. Then we will head over to Indianapolis to see my family for a couple of days. After that we will begin the return journey and I will have my own corps of discovery for the rest of the trip...Captain Roseann and Sergeant Brandon.......finally some leadership around here!

Day 7 - Sitting Bull's Revenge

2011-07-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

A tip, don't eat an indian taco when you have to spend the next day in a car......ouch!

Travelled along the missouri River most of the day today and still see lots of evidence of the flooded river's toll.

It has not affected the places I need to shoot too much and I have not seen any homes underwater thankfully, mostly just recreational areas along the river and one golf course.

In North and South Dakota I have seen quite a few pro life sign along the roads, which is fine, but this one really creeped me out as the drawing of the child is quite odd, especially the tear running down the face. It is also the first one to mention god.

Stumbled upon this community of RV's out in the middle of nowhere, but it was near a boat launch (flooded) along the Missouri, so it must be a lot of boating enthusiasts who live out there.

I regret not getting a picture of this spot with my digi, but I was too busy photographing it with my film camera. It was in an awkward spot at an intersection and I was kind of nervous someone was going to come out and beat my ass so I had to rush to get it. Out of nowhere I see this strange looking building just north of the small town of Fort Thompson SD. When I approached the sign I noticed it said, "Prairie Chicken Gentleman's Club and RV Park". The sign had a lovely drawing of a woman on it as well, I'll let you use your imagination. Can't wait to process that one.

Spending the night at the Colonial Inn in Yankton, SD. It is on the main drag and I have come to appreciate the 4 wheeler ATV's driving down the road as a very normal occurrence.

Quite the pad!

I found some L&C Gin while in Montana, finally getting around to sampling it.

They also had L&C Vodka, but no whiskey. The brand is actually made by the Hood River Distillery but they have no information about it on their website, and I have never seen it in Portland. Dayton Duncan refers to drinking some L&C whiskey in his book Out West but I have not found any yet. I'm on the hunt!

Into Iowa tomorrow.

Day 7

2011-07-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

Woof.

That's Seamus, the newfoundland dog that L&C had on the expedition with them. Had a pretty stellar day of shooting today, I have now shot 43 rolls of 120 film and a hand full of 8x10 paper negs! I went north of Bismarck today and shot at the closed/flooded/sandbagged Fort Mandan, the Knife River Indian Village, a few more dams, and then headed towards South Dakota. I am spending the night in Mobridge, SD. at the Kountry Inn which has recommended reading set out for you upon arrival.

Went into town to the local eatery and had a delicious indian taco which is essentially a giant tostada on indian fry bread instead of a hardshell taco disk.....sorry no picture, forgot my camera in the motel room. Prett tired and need sleep so I am just going to post some pictures from the day. Good night.

Day 6

2011-07-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Not too much to talk of today as most the day was spent driving. Pompey's Pillar was the last major landmark on the southern return route and at this point most of the spots are north of me which I will be hitting on the way back, which is the original outward bound route. Speaking of which, someone should make a west to east guide book as it can be a pain in the butt reading the books and directions backwards.

North Dakota is quite nice so far, very pretty.

Spending the night in Bismarck, ND at a Motel 6. It is right next to a main road and has a swimming pool out front. When I was walking by it and heard the sounds of trucks it reminded me why I like staying at these type of interesting small hotels (OK Motel 6 isn't that interesting). My Grandpa owned a small motel in Lake Charles, Louisiana where both my parents grew up and every summer we would visit. My dad would always take me swimming at the motel pool and there was a main road right next to it with lots of trucks traveling it. So it brought back some memories.

I think I'll have to take a dip.

Bismarck, ND

Forgot to post this image yesterday from the Pompey's Pillar gift shop. Thought it was pretty funny.

Day 5

2011-07-09T20:19:00.001-07:00

Driving away from Great Falls as fast as I can! Sorry Great Falls, Mt. you left a bad impression on me. I spent the night in your heart and you showed me the underbelly. I did what I came to do which was get up at sunrise and get a shot of the Great Falls of the Missouri.

But I left in a weird funk for a few reasons. Paid too much for a Motel......the mermaids were not worth it, everyone I met was fairly unfriendly or just really unhappy and I read a horrific article in the local paper about a 2 year old who died. I won't go into it but it makes me lose faith in the world when I read articles about parents who neglect their children and let them die tragically. Whew.....any way past that now and feeling much better after a good day.

I also realized last night after consulting my maps and books that I missed an important spot about 90 miles south (Headwaters of the Missouri/Three Forks) and that I needed to back track to hit Pompey's Pillar. So I back tracked a bit but was able to take highways the whole day....good if you want to make time and bad if you want the more laid back scenic approach.....but today it was good, since most everyone drives at least 80 MPH on the highways, especially once you get further east, I was able to make god time and have some "zone out" driving.

Headwaters of the Missouri/Three Forks

Clark's signature carved in the rock at Pompey's Pillar

They are watching you! Don't mess with the rock!

Pompey's Pillar is in south eastern montana along the Yellowstone River, which I spent most of the day driving along side. It is extremely swollen and most of the grounds at the pillar were flooded. While there I met another member of the Journey of Discovery.....Weird! He had camped near there during their expedition and says that all the campsites along this river, and everywhere southeast of there (where I'm headed) are under water. Hopefully it won't affect my trip too much.

Tonight I am in Forsyth Mt. which is a super cute little town. I had some delicious chicken fried steak for dinner at the local restaurant.

Downtown Forsyth

Tomorrow I'll be heading into North Dakota which is one of the three states I have not set foot in before. The other two being Minnesota and Alaska.....some day I'll get em.

Days 3-4

2011-07-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Can you hear that? It is the sound of the mosquitos laughing at my silly little candle. The "flying horses" as locals call them were out in full force last night but once I got the fire going and doused myself with off, it was pretty much ok.

Today I have officially left the mountains entered the great plains. Tonight I have an interesting room in a VERY interesting Motel in Great Falls, Montana called the O'Haire Motor Inn. Supposedly in about half an hour (9pm) their will be mermaids in the pool which you can see from the "Sip n Dip Lounge" as there are windows looking into the pool behind the bar!

See the windows down there. I will be checking that out and will post a picture for sure either later tonight or tomorrow......good reason to come back!

But anyway............I left Missoula yesterday and drove down through the Bitterroot Valley into the National Forest of the same name. This route took me up over Lemhi Pass which was a very nice drive with a great view. It also happens to be the Continental Divide.

This is the spot where L&C hoped to see flatlands leading to the ocean once they reached the top, but to their dismay, all there was to see were more mountains.

Lemhi Pass is a shallow saddle of a ridge running north and south, affording vistas to the east and west. When Lewis finally reached it, he probably didn't bother looking back east. He had already covered it by foot. The view out west was what he was after. He had dreamed of the historic moment and had crossed the vastness of the newly acquired Louisiana Territory to achieve it. Cresting the rise, he expected to see confirmation of the Northwest Passage. Instead, he saw...more mountains. No sweeping plain, no mighty river, not even a descending tier of foothills, but mountains: "immence ranges of high mountains still tot he west of us with tops partially covered with snow." Here, as geographer and author John Logan Allen describes it, "the distinction between the geography of hope and the geography of reality" was finally made.

-Dayton Duncan, from his book Out West, A Journey Through Lewis and Clark's America

Waking up this morning after a very cold night I set out to find a nearby ghost town, but I guess it did not want to be found. Instead I found the cabin from Evil Dead.

The clouds today were perfect and made the picturesque landscape of Montana even more so.

I would like to rename the road I was driving on this morning Horse Shit Road. There is nothing more exciting than to hear the sound of it splattering all up under the car. it was pretty much unavoidable for about 30-45 miles.

Yep.....Horse Shit!

At a L&C Historical pull off, I met a man named John Hess from California. If you look closely at his shirt you can see that he was a part of the Discovery Expedition during the bicentennial celebration. A group of enthusiasts traveled from coast to coast just as the Corps of Discovery did! He only did a portion of it though as I guess it took three years, just as it did the original expedition. That is some serious dedication! Makes me feel pretty wimpy, with my iPod in my air conditioned Subaru.

One thing I have noticed as there has been very little traffic on the route I am taking (which is nice of course) but this picture is a pretty common occurrence, I will be the only one there! The L&C Trail does not seem to be a big tourist attractor. The only acception so far was at the L&C State Park Caves, which are just north of Yellowstone Park so it probably feeds from that.

UPDATE! Yes, mermaids really do exist!

The road that kicked my butt!

2011-07-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have driven a lot of roads, but the 250 odd miles of HWY 12 between Lewiston, Idaho and Missoula, Montana beat me down today! Don't get me wrong, it was amazing and beautiful, but it was really hard driving. This is one of the downsides of travelling alone, no one to give a rest on the driving end.

The expedition had to take a Nez Pierce Trail on the ridge to the north of this river (road), as the river was completely unnavigable by boat. They had a rough time as well.

The expedition struggled to survive this area. Night were cold and wet. Accidents with the pack animals were daily occurrences in the rough, choked terrain. The captains wanted to get through the here as fast as possible and reach a navigable river to the Pacific, but the five days the Indians had told them the trip would take stretched into eleven. There was no game for food, so the explorers ate some of theirs horses for strength. When they finally emerged on the Wieppe Prairie east of modern-day Orofino, Idaho, the entire troupe was on the brink of starvation.

-Dayton Duncan, from his book Out West, A Journey Through Lewis and Clark's America.

The Highlight of my day (photographically speaking) was stopping at Lynn's Antiques Second Hand in Kamlah, Idaho where I picked up a sweet coffee mug and a puzzle for my son Brandon.

Almost bought that outfit!

That's Lynn there reading the paper. Despite the giant button on the wall that says moody bitch, she was quite nice. That was until I asked to do a portrait of her and she looked at me like I was some kind of freak. Oh well, luckily that was on my way out.

Lolo Pass

Made it to Missoula and found a nice place to sleep at the Bel Aire Motel.

Bel Aire Lobby

Tomorrow, Lemhi Pass (on the continental divide) and finally....some camping!

"Dam" fine day

2011-07-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of the trip.........pretty good so far, They journey however did start with a casualty. I awoke to find my french press cracked and broken in the dish drying rack. Disaster has been averted and I quickly recruited Roseann's press pot (which she uses for tea) to accompany me on the journey and provide trusty companionship and caffeineation.

I made it to Lewiston Idaho for the night, Sorry Clarkston (just across the river in washington) Lewiston had a bit more flair and fewer shirtless "whiskey tangos" stumbling down the street being held up by their lady. Tired with a sunburned neck and 8 rolls of 120 film (tmax B&W) shot so far. Being a bit rusty (and perhaps anxious) I shot my first two frames at Bonneville Dam with my lens cap on. Nice!

My personal ranger/tour guide at Bonneville, although there are multiple levels of meaning to this picture.

Living along the Columbia I have always been aware of all the dams that are part of the river but oddly enough I had never stopped at any of them. Today that changed, I stopped and took a tour of the Bonneville Dam, checked out the Mcnary damn, and just waved at the Dalles dam. I did stop at the site of Celilo Falls though which the Dalles Dam flooded.

If you ever find yourself in Pasco, Washington stop by the Los Pinos Taqueria and get the asada burrito. It was a larger cousin of the burritos I ate in Cabo......delicious. Sorry for the crappy picture........did not think of taking it until I was driving out of the parking lot.

Family picnic at the Bonneville Dam

The fish counter.....there is a person sitting there in the dark....what a job!

McNary dam

Confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers

Three Forks sunset

Pepsi sign sunset.......kinda hard to see waaaaay out there.......to the right of the tree

On to Idaho and Montana tomorrow, hopefully the oil spill along the yellowstone river does not cause any detours!

Along the Way

2011-01-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

I have been working on this project for over a year now, shooting whenever we take a trip out to the coast or up to Astoria, which seems to be one of our new favorite places to disappear to these days. I have been applying for grants to help me make the trip back east to shoot the whole route that Lewis & Clark followed, by road, not river of course. Last week I received great news from the Regional Arts & Culture Council here in Portland. I received a Project grant from them that is finally helping to make this dream look like a reality! Now I am seeking donations through kickstarter.com. Click on the image below to find out how to donate and go to my website for the project to learn more about what it is I am doing.

Oh and by the way..................

SPE in Philly

2010-10-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

I was in Philly for SPE last March. Luckily I had my good friend, awesome photographer and "local" Dom to show me a good time! Quite the host, best time I've had in a while! Philly is my new favorite City outside of Portland. Thanks again Dom.

New Directions 2010

2010-01-15T14:43:00.000-08:00

Wow it is 2010 already. Starting it off nicely. Have this image in a show in Seattle and Portland.

Summer Travels

2009-08-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

Wamsutter Motel, Wamsutter, WY.

We returned from our 3 week road trip last week. Although it is always great to travel and to get away from daily life, it is nice to come home. It would be lovely to have another month off to do nothing but process film and scan negs, but unfortunately that won't be happening. It was really nice to have a digital camera on this trip (Roseann's birthday gift from me) as we were able to post images on facebook so friends could see what we were up to. So if you are connected to us on facebook go check em out.

If you ever check out images over at Rah you might know I have a thing for off the beaten path motels. I have to say the Wamsutter Motel pictured above was one of those experiences where you expect axe murderers to knock on your door in the middle of the night. When stopping at non-chain motels you run the risk of having two experiences; A night at a cute quirky old motor lodge or a scary piece of shit motel. This one leaned way towards the latter which probably had something to do with it being in the middle of nowhere! Luckily we both survived and I'm happy with the image (taken with our new digital camera!).

Woodstock, NY

2009-06-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last two days in a workshop with Linda Connor at the Center for Photography at Woodstock. It was a very nice experience and it was also nice to finally see the Center at Woodstock and how they do things. I always enjoy comparing Newspace to other centers around the country, especially one that has been in existence for over 30 years.

Linda has been teaching and photographing for longer than I have been alive, so she knows a few things. She gave all of us a lot of great insight on photography and our work as individuals. I don't think I've had such a great critique of my work since college.

Last night I hiked up to some old ruins with a fellow participant in the workshop. We headed out after Linda's fabulous slide lecture around 10:30. The hike was about 45 minutes up an old road. About 10 minutes into the hike we heard something quite large rustling in the bushes about 15 feet from us off the road. It was a full moon so we were walking up the road without a flashlight so we were not able to investigate. Not that I wanted to though. There are a lot of black bear in this area so it definitely got my heart pumping a bit. Once we got up there we encountered a porcupine which promptly went its own way. I'd never seen one before! We were up there shooting for about an hour and I have to say it was pretty spooky. We kept hearing a lot of strange noises like pipes banging and footsteps. A pretty cool place with an interesting history. Next time I will go up there in the daytime though.

Off to Asheville, NC for a few days with some old friends.

Town & Country: Oregon at 150

2009-05-30T16:18:00.001-07:00

Pretty excited to have four pieces in this group show at Froelick Gallery for the month of June. It opens next Thursday so if you are out and about for first thursday stop by and check it out.

Blogs are like assholes...

2009-05-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

Everyone has one!

Light Leak Magazine

2009-02-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

I have a nice little interview in this cool magazine.

Man I need this!

2009-02-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work

The Darkroom

2009-01-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

Great link: http://www.richardnicholson.com/darkroom/

I never thought I would give up darkroom printing. But it happened last year. I still shoot film and process it myself, but after that I scan it and print it digitally (I do still make contact sheets in the darkroom though). This all came about when I tried out an epson v750 scanner, affordable to someone like myself with great results! Also once epson came out with the k3 ink set and the advanced B&W print driver that was a big leap for digital B&W printing. Before if you wanted to print on a glossy paper you had to use troublesome complicated ink sets to avoid the bronzing effect. Now that it is much easier to print on glossy papers there are a lot more available on the market too. I love the Hahnemuhle photo rag pearl..........a truly beautiful paper! Looking at the images in the link makes me bummed about the disappearance of the darkroom. I am still happy though since I do straddle both worlds a bit, plus I am in a darkroom everyday I'm at work so I still feel connected to it and get to smell the oh so lovely chemical smell too.

Onward!

2008-12-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

I had this image accepted into the Onward group show at Project Basho in Philadelphia. Looks like a great little place, very simalar to what we do at Newspace.

I shot this image at the now abandoned New Mexico state penitentiary when I worked at the Santa Fe Photo Workshops as a course assistant. The workshops got access to this site and our class was one of the first to go out there. In 1980 there was a really nasty riot where many inmates were brutally murdered, so needless to say it was creepy! Here is a cool link that has some great back story on the place and the riots.

Feature on Flak Photo

2008-12-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

Andy Adams runs a great little website called Flak Photo. On December 19th he featured one of my images. Check it out here. He is featuring a selection of images from Photolucida's Critical Mass competition. I have been a judge for Critical Mass for the last three years but this year I wanted to be on the other side as a participant. Although I did not make the top 50, it was a wonderful way to get my work in front of a lot of people. (Flak Photo for example) I highly recommend it!

Austin

2008-11-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

Had a nice trip to Austin, TX recently to visit meet my friend dave and visit his sister who lives there. Dave did a nice roundup of the weekend here. Had never been there but always wanted to visit, all in all left with a good impression. The winter weather there is perfect but I don't think I could handle the summer. Pictures going up here over the next few days.

FAIL!

2008-11-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is why I love the internet.

Shelter

2008-11-23T23:57:00.000-08:00

Have a piece in the group show titled "Shelter" at 23 Sandy Gallery this month.

VOTE!

2008-10-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

I just filled out my ballot and plan to drop it off tomorrow. It feels pretty damn good. I really hope things turn out like they should this time. I don't want to have to move to Canada.

At least I can say........so long W., you fucking moron!

Pardon my French.

Why America is Fucked.

2008-09-30T22:48:00.000-07:00

The Swifts

2008-09-21T21:34:00.000-07:00

A new image shot last week of the swift migration that takes place every September in Portland.

Zen and the Art of the Mixed Tape

2008-09-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

In high school and college I used to spend hours making mixed tapes for people from my record and cd collection. This always felt like time well spent and it was always a wonderful experience for me and hopefully the person receiving the tape. I still have all the old mixed tapes that were made for me and I usually dubbed the ones I made too. I have my cassette racks sitting out in the garage right now but once I turn the garage into my studio I should have the wall space to put them up. I have at least one of these racks dedicated to these mixed tapes. I still have all my vinyl inside, except some of the 7 inches.....three comic book boxes worth actually.........and yes I still have a record player....two actually.

The best music movie ever by the way! If you have not seen it, go rent it right now.

I was having a conversation with a friend last weekend about how my listening and buying habits have changed since I bought a computer back in 2002.....and especially since I bought an iPod about three years ago. Now I typically just put my iPod on shuffle and let it go. I do enjoy this as it gives me a great mix and I might listen to songs I might not otherwise, but recently I have been feeling like I am not as close and familiar with the records as a whole anymore. The whole album! From the first song to the last with everything in between. There is something to be said for the experience of playing a record....and a CD I guess. Anyway, later that day my friend told me about an article he had just read in a magazine called the believer. It was a strange coincidence that we had just been discussing this topic and then he discovers an article that so perfectly states what I was feeling. Gotta love it when that happens.

Here is an excerpt from the article on the Believer website where you can order the issue or you can download a PDf of the whole article from this blog.

My very own book!

2008-09-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

Blurb is pretty cool. Yes sometimes the quality can vary but for the most part I have been very happy with what I have seen. I finally felt like I had enough images to take the time to create a book of my images so I did just that. I received it in the mail today and I was like a kid at........ (insert your holiday here_________). It was quite a thrill to see my work in book form with a dust jacket and all. Being a collector of photo books this is a pretty big deal for me. It felt cool to slip my book in on the shelf next to some of my favorites! Any way, thanks Blurb and modern technology! You (sort of) made my dreams come true. Of course it would be nice to have a real publisher want to publish a book of my work. One can always hope right? So I have included a link to where you can preview and purchase my book if you would like. It ended up being kind of expensive because I went with the large format. So I decided to mark them up $25 and include a limited edition (50) signed and numbered print with it. It is image #13 of the Broken Cinema series on my website. When you order the book just send me your address and I will mail you the print.

BROKEN CINEMA

Book Preview

Oh summer where art thou?

2008-08-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Kind of hard to believe it is already the end of August. Kind of hard to believe it has been raining like it's November on and off for the past week. I hope and pray the we have an indian summer that lasts deep into October or I'm going to have to hide sharp objects come March. We seemed to have this same problem last summer and it made for a long winter.

Summer recap:

Watched a lot of Olympics the last two weeks.

Stayed the night in this amazing fire lookout.

This was our view of Mt. Jefferson.

Unfortunately I only had one other camping trip the whole summer. Hopefully more to come in September and October.

I was selected into the second round of judging for the Tacoma Art Museum NW Biennial which means that I received a studio visit from the two curators. It was a nice experience, but I will be surprised if I am selected. There are some great photographers I am competing against, which makes it even more of an honor to be selected. I should hear something this week.

I was asked to be a reviewer for the Photolucida NW summer reviews. A very intense experience as I had 20 minutes per person to review portfolios of 24 different photographers! Of course this was split into four sections over two days but my brain felt like melted cheese after it was all said and done. There are a lot of opinions about these types of reviews as they happen all over the country. I go back and forth between feeling that they are a great opportunity for networking and feedback to thinking that it is just too much and the feedback most receive can be shallow and forced since you (as a reviewer) have to react to the work so quickly. I have never participated in one on either side before this and I think I might try being a "reviewee" at some point. I just need to start saving money as they are pretty pricey. Overall a positive experience though, I met a lot of great photographers.

The good thing about this summer though is that have been shooting a lot. You can see some of the 35mm images over at my Rah blog.

I have adopted some of what I do with my paper negatives and carried it into my broken cinema series which is shot with medium format film. So far I am happy with these two images and hope to keep shooting more like this.

Music on the brain at the moment:

Fleet Foxes
Hoover
The Avett Brothers
Slint
Mogwai- Zidane soundtrack
Dennis Wilson (brians brother)

Last movie watched:
Death Proof

Book:
Passage to Juneau

New favorite food:
Andouille sausage burgers made by Mike.

Who's afraid of the big bad Juried Exhibition?

2008-07-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Photo: Alia Malley

From what I can tell, art critics in Portland are. This month Newspace is hosting its fourth annual Juried Exhibition which was curated by TJ Norris. I always look forward to having this show in our gallery because of it's diversity, scope and (believe it or not) lack of focus. For 11 months out of the year the gallery features focused, completed bodies of work or group shows that have some type of cohesive theme. The juried exhibition gives us the one chance all year to present a smorgasbord of strong photography from all over the world. Can't critics handle this, at least for one month?

So far no one has touched the show in print, not even a listing. There have been a couple of online mentions but no attempts at a review or more in depth listing. Is everyone afraid to be the first to put their opinion out there? Over the past four years the juried exhibitions have received timid (at best) reviews or mentions. The reviews have included intros like this: "while I'm not usually a fan of juried exhibitions" or "By its very nature, such a democratic sampling necessarily lacks thematic cohesion and therefore sacrifices a certain amount of fire and flair" and "These works take on a host of diverse subjects and resist any common theme, except, perhaps, the sheer disparity between these artists' styles and approaches".

Can we reach a point where people and critics take group shows for what they are and not project what they aren't as serious flaws that undermine the overall purpose of what this type of show hopes to accomplish? For the first few years we simply called the exhibit "New Photography". The only stipulation in the submission process that the work was created within the last two years. That in itself creates our "theme" or "cohesion" behind this show; to present a variety of photographs that demonstrate what a current crop of young and not so young emerging photographers are doing. It's fun, it's loose, and everyone one should at least walk away having seen one or two photographs that actually moved them. They can them harness the power of the internet and delve deeper into one or many of the photographers online portfolios and see what they are really about.

I am not disappointed in the lack of media attention so far because I want Newspace to be patted on the back, I am disappointed because there is a lot of great photography here this month that I think people should see. Artists from pasts shows have gone on to receive major gallery representation, publish monographs, and be featured in Aperture Magazine. It really thrills me when I see this happen! Through these shows I see how hard artists work to get themselves out into the world and it is nice to see them succeed.

Hope you can make it down to see this wonderful show. It is up until the 27th of July.

Home

2008-06-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our trip to the Bay Area today. Had a good time but I really do not like the Bay Area that much anymore and I find myself cursing California as a whole any chance I get! The whole state is on fire and we spent most of our trip breathing in smoke from these fires. I used to love visiting SF, but this trip It made me really miss Portland….perhaps Portland has completely spoiled me? The Bay Area is expensive, crowded and people (most of them anyway) are assholes.

Sorry, I do not have a digital camera So I cannot be an efficient blogger and post cool trip pictures. Once I process my film I will post some pictures. You will just have to use your imagination like the good ol days.

We did not have time to hit SF MOMA but I was able to check out the Stephen Wirtz, Fraenkel and Koch galleries. Koch had a nice exhibit of Amy Steins work, Fraenkel had a pretty uninspiring show by Christian Marclay and Wirtz had some nice paintings by Griff Williams and some laughable glitter, sorry, “crushed glass” abstracts by Laurie Reid which sold (and most of them had) for $2,000 and up. It is the type of work that makes you wonder where the skill is? Shit I should lay down some glue in swirly patterns and dust some glitter on it. Really, maybe that is a good idea. If I am going to call out some someone’s art perhaps I should really try it and see what I get. I can either say I told you so or be able to say, OK maybe that is harder/more creative than I thought.

All said and done it was a bit disappointing. To only have the chance to visit these galleries very rarely and not hit a show that does much for me. At least at the Wirtz gallery there was a smattering of nice photography in the back rooms/hallways. The best though was that some of Paul Schiek’s work was hanging around in one of the back rooms. He has shown at Newspace and makes incredible books.

I have to vent for a second………..There is a problem plaguing our highways, Not sure if this is nation wide but I have noticed it in Oregon, Washington and especially California on this trip. For some reason people think it is OK to hang out and drive slow in the left lane, forcing you to pass them on the right. Did I miss the memo that said drivers should do this now? On our way back to Portland I decided I was not going to pass people on the right and instead I would just flash my brights at them until they moved over. I received a variety of results from this technique it seems. Some moved over and perhaps realized, oops I was hogging up the passing lane. Some did not move at all so I was eventually forced to go around and give them the evil stare. One guy though, he moved over for me and then as soon I passed him he moved right back over into the left lane. We were on a totally open stretch of road with practically no other cars around. I must have missed the memo, seriously.

On the road again

2008-06-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

Been traveling for a couple days, going to the Bay area for an old friends wedding. We are in Hollister, CA visiting Roseann's cousing Charlie. Managed to get a few good shots off already. Yesterday was pretty cool because we drove past this on the way to Hollister.

I shot this last summer when I was driving to Las Vegas with a friend to shoot a portrait of Greg Oden (there for summer league) for the cover of Portland Monthly. It has been one of my favorite new images this last year. So it has been living in my memory for a while now and it was strange to drive by and see it again. It was kind of like running into an old friend unsuspectingly out of nowhere. I did not know we were going to be driving this far south on our trip as I did not remember exactly where it was after I shot it. But as we approached this beautiful area south of Sacramento on I-5 I became very excited. Roseann got to see it for the first time in person. It has been hanging in our bedroom for a while now so she enjoyed seeing the real thing.

Today Portland.......tomorrow.....

2008-06-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

I started the new year telling myself I had to really buckle down and get more of my personal work out into the world. So far so good....... In May I was in two group shows around town, one at at Chambers Fine Art and another at 23 Sandy Gallery and one solo show at Pushdot Studio.

Some press:

here

and a couple links here

Please ignore the unfortunate picture of me.

For the last five years I have been so focused on Newspace and being a "facilitator" that I put my own work on the back burner. Last winter it really started taking a toll on me (see older posts) so I decided to do something about it. I have been entering a lot of calls for entries and have had a couple of nice surprises.

A few weeks ago I had these two pieces accepted into the Soho Photo Gallery National Juried Exhibition in NY.

I also got a little love from Jen Bekman when I entered the Hey Hot Shot call.

All quite flattering and exciting.

Lastly, I love my job again! I was having a little frustration there for a while but finding a better balance has helped as well as having a wonderful supportive board who does not try to run Newspace like it is their business.....mmmm, OK no need to go there.

Must not lose steam

2007-11-24T16:03:00.000-08:00

With so many things in life, it is easy to start strong and fade off as time goes on. I am trying to not let that happen with this blog. OK lets go!

It is two days after thanksgiving, it has been relaxing. I got really drunk with my neighbor (pictured) last night.....totally unintentional, I was at a friends house watching the blazers game drinking some of his new homebrew. I got home and the wife was still out with some friends. So this neighbor, michael, converted his garage into a "boys room" for hanging out in, viewing sports, blasting blues music. I heard some blues coming from within. Since his gate was locked I threw some small rocks at the door over the chain link fence separating our yards. After a couple of direct hits the door swings open like he is ready to kick some ass! It's just me. Once I settle in he pours me a nice fat glass of Remy. I stayed for an hour or two just long enough to put too much Remy on top of the beer I had already consumed. Hello spins! I was lucky though, I managed to not throw up as I was attempting to fall asleep. Feel like shit though today.

Got a photo book in the mail recently, the newest Adam Fuss book. His work has really grown on me over the years. But perhaps it is also due to the fact that I have grown more and more fond of Photography that is outside of traditional boundries. Most of his work is created without using a camera, sublime photograms. Quite beautiful. I just ordered the new Starn twins book today. It is this type of work that I have been feeling quite connected to lately. It is photography used in a way that is to create "art" not necessarily to document our surroundings. This is the direction I have wanted my work to go. For my personal "creative/art" work I have no interest in documenting reality. I want to create my own reality using photography as my medium. It would still portray the world around me, but how i see it when I close my eyes. I want my photography, when I look at it, to make me feel the way I feel when I listen to dark and beautiful music like Stars of the Lid or David Darling. Can photography be as powerful as music? I think/hope so.

Doing my duty

2007-11-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

Ok so I left the last post quite abruptly. A good segue into talking about why I was reading my horoscope. Yesterday I finally got called for jury duty. It was bound to happen, I felt like everyone I knew was getting the letter, so I figured it was only a matter of time before it was my turn. So in the middle of lamenting about grad school my name was called. I had to rush off to the court room. I won't go into anything but all I have to say is that I am glad I am not in prison! After the typical interview/questioning process of the 15 or so of us chosen, they selected six and I was not chosen. I was called again in the afternoon for another jury but again was not chosen. So now I am off and don't have to worry about it for another two years. It was kind of an interesting experience for one day, getting to see the oh so glorious legal system. Any way had I been chosen for a trial for more than a day or two I would have had to pull the undue hardship card on them. I can miss a day or two of work for this, but that's it. It is too much of a burden to take time off from without a decent amount of planning to get people to cover for me, plus right now we are just too overwhelmed. We have a board meeting on friday and I have been busting out our 2008 budget. Good times.

So grad school eh. Like I was saying the brochures usually sit next to my bed, get leafed through, forgotten and recycled once I decide to tidy up. It feels stronger this time though, like I am really ready to move on into something new. Trouble is, at this point in time though it would be difficult going anywhere out of town as my wife is in her second year of teaching 5th grade. I think though that after one more year she can take a leave for a year or two and still

come back to her job. Life has become so much more complicated now that I have settled down a little bit.....a lotta bit. Can't just decide to pack up and move on like I used to. That can be a good thing though.

The two schools I requested catalogs from this time around were Yale,

again, and SMFA Boston. Yale's catalog is so....well, Yale I guess. A little grey handbook with a coat of arms on the cover. Not one single image except for a drawn map of campus in the front. Times font, times bold used for the headers. They don't need to wow you. They are always rated somewhere in the top three grad schools for photography and they have a pretty nice looking faculty. Not that I think I would get in but I just thought perhaps I would one day apply for shits and giggles. Most other school catalogs related to the arts are always so flashy, full of imagery, modern and hip. But Yale pulls no punches unless they are trying to knock you out with being serious and to the point. I enjoy the other catalogs, they give you some nice visual stimulation but they can be a bit over the top sometimes.

Aquarius

2007-11-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

My Horoscope today says: "Make sure any urges for change are validated by the facts and are not just restlessness looking for an outlet." I used to read my horoscope pretty religiously when I was in my twenties, I guess I felt it gave me answers and or direction/inspiration. This was back when I was always searching, finding my way in the world. But I have been pretty grounded for th elast 5 years, starting my own business, buying a house, getting married, living in a city that I totally love. The urge to read them was not there anymore. So why did I read it today? I will get to that in my next post. But let's stay on this topic for now.........Strange that I read this for the first time in a while and it actually hits home. Lately I have been restless, my wanderlust is starting to come back, or maybe it is just the desire for change. I still love my wife and where I live but the job part has become something I never quite imagined it would. What started as a "co-op" photo gallery, rental darkroom, and studio has become a young and growing nonprofit photo center. My job has shifted to arts/nonprofit administration and I am not quite sure it is the path I want to continue going down. I have developed migraines, acid reflux, and find myself being more and more stressed out. It has also affected my personal photography. Sure I have access to a darkroom any time I want, but it is "work" and it is usually the last place I want to be when I don't have to be. We used to be closed on mondays so I could go there and have it all to myself which helped but now we are open 7 days a week. I don't mind working with others, but it is REALLY nice to be alone when I work.

Any way, I occasionally get the urge to apply for my MFA in photography once every couple of years, but recently it has been very bad....or good....or just strong really. Once again I went online and requested a couple of brochures from schools, excited when they arrive in the mail a few weeks later. The same result always happens though.